RECAP: Earthquakes Host C.F. Monterrey in International Friendly

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose Earthquakes fell to Mexican side C.F. Monterrey 2-1 in an international friendly at Avaya Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Fifteen-year-old Cade Cowell scored the Quakes' lone goal just moments after entering as a second-half substitute in his professional debut.

The Quakes return to MLS action when they host LAFC at Avaya Stadium on Saturday, March 30, presented by Valley Health Plan. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. and the match will be broadcast live on Univision, KNBR 1050 and 1370 KZSF.

"He's a 15-year-old player. He's very young. I gave him and Gilbert [Fuentes] some time today, and it's only their first steps in a senior team at the professional level. We need to go step-by-step with them. They have the best example in front of them, a historic goal-scorer in Chris [Wondolowski]. In a year to a year-and-a-half, this team will be totally different."

On how the younger players performed:

"It's nice to see the younger players. My career started as a youth with a club called River Plate. I had the possibility to debut at 18 years of age. I got tired of seeing how youngers players were burnt out. I think there are moments, but we need to be careful of when we can put them in and let them go when they are ready. The moment San Jose is facing is difficult because they only won four games last year, and the youth should not carry the weight of changing the club. We need to go step-by-step with the younger players and develop them into ambitious players that really know the system of play, and know the lifestyle of a soccer player, and from that point don't burn them out. Our objective in a year to a year-and-a-half is to have many young players, and they should know what they play, how to play it, and why they play it."

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI

On the outcome of the match:

"I thought there was some bright signs. There're definitely some mistakes that we still need to fix. We need to continue to keep building, continue taking the right steps. It's still not a result that we wanted. I thought we had a good week of practice. We are continuing in the right direction, we're taking baby steps, now it's time for us to take a big boy step."

On Cowell's goal and Thompson's assist:

"I thought it was well deserved, great run, great ball by Tommy as well. I thought Tommy sent the ball in well and Cade made a great near-post run, something that we have been working on. I'm so proud of him to get that. He's going to have a bright future, he's going to continue to grow as a player, and I'm proud of him."

On the youth in general:

"They're continuing to grow. It's great to see them with confidence and get out there and get some of these minutes. I think it's very important for them to continue to learn and grow and they're definitely on the right path."

SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER ERIC CALVILLO

On how he would rate his own performance:

"I'm not sure, honestly. That's something for everyone else to decide and for the coaching staff to decide. I just go out and play my own game. Try to do what I know how to do best and try to make an impact."

On the play of San Jose's young players:

"As long as you work hard and put in the effort and the time, eventually everything will come to hand and will all be on yourself. You're going to get an opportunity and either you take it or you don't. A lot of the young guys got that opportunity today and I think they did what they had to do and hopefully there's more opportunities for the young guys."